MANLEY LABORATORIES, INC. THE SKIPJACK OWNER'S MANUAL TUBES RULE brought to you by the clever folks at: MANLEY LABORATORIES, INC. 13880 MAGNOLIA AVE. CHINO, CA. 91710 USA TEL: (909) 627-4256 FAX: (909) 628-2482 email: emanley@manleylabs.com website: www.manleylabs.
CONTENTS SECTION PAGE INTRODUCTION 3 OVERVIEW 4 BASIC OPERATION 5 SKIPJACK MENUS 6&7 CLEVER USAGES 8 COMPARING CABLES 9 & 10 COMPARISONS DEFINITIONS 11 THE FUTURE 12 OPTIMIZING YOUR SOUND SYSTEM 13 CREDITS & SPECIFICATIONS 14 EXAMPLES 15 2
INTRODUCTION THANK YOU!... for choosing the Manley SKIPJACK for your audio switching requirements. The MANLEY SKIPJACK was first conceived as perhaps the world's first audiophile-grade A-B switcher. It was meant to be simple but then we started getting too clever for ourselves and expanded it to a 4 into 1 or 3 into 2 switcher, added ABX switching, a remote pickle remote controller and fancy lights and such to make it into the product you now hold with endearment in your hands.
OVERVIEW The Manley Skipjack is a novel little multi-purpose product. In its most basic form, a partial list of what it might be used for is: Selector of 4 x Stereo Inputs to 1 Stereo Output. Selector of 3 x Stereo Inputs to 2 Stereo Outputs. Routing 1 Stereo source to one of 4 Stereo Destinations. Routing 1 of 2 Stereo Sources to 1 of 3 Stereo Destinations.
BASIC OPERATION... Operating Modes: There are two main operating modes: 4x1 and 3x2. In the 4x1 mode, the jacks labeled ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, and ‘D/OP2’ are connected to the jack labeled ‘OP1’., by pressing the buttons labeled ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, or ‘D’. Normally OP1 is connected to a destination like the input of a preamp or amplifier, and signal sources are connected to jacks A, B, C, and D.
The Menus: SKIPJACK MENUS Part 1 The ‘X’ button has several functions. As mentioned above, the ‘X’ button will switch the display between output-1 and output-2 while Skipjack is in 3x2 mode. But how do you get into 3x2 mode? The ‘X’ button allows access to the menu functions of Skipjack. Pressing and holding the ‘X’ button for about ¾ of a second will access the main menu. The ‘X’ button light goes off, the Badge changes to bright white, and the buttons will display and control menu selections.
SKIPJACK MENUS Part 2 Skipjack Menus: Holding the X button for about ¾ second gets you into the X menu. The badge gets as bright as it can. The options you have, as long as you hold the X button, are: A button – Address set. As soon as you press the A button, the badge turns green and the X button turns orange and should be released. Now you can select a unique address for Skipjack using the A-B-C-D buttons.
CLEVER USAGES Blind A/B comparisons: 1) If you haven’t done so, do steps 1-3 described above for A/B comparisons. 2) Press and hold the “X” button again until the badge turns white again. 3) Press button “C” to turn off the LEDs. (mission accomplished). 4) Use the pickle to alternate between A & B. If it is time to see what you picked press the “X” button. Using Skipjack for taping and monitoring simultaneously: 1) Connect any two sources to A and B inputs, and the tape machine output to C input.
COMPARING CABLES PT.1 One thing that the Skipjack can be used for is comparing cables. In practice, this is not as quite as easy as one might hope. We can use it to illustrate some points though. Lets say you want to compare two sets of good audiophile interconnects. At the source, you might use a pair of simple cheap “Y” adapters. This feeds the two sets of interconnects, which feed the Skipjack. Then you need a third set of interconnects to feed the preamp.
COMPARING CABLES PT.2 What can be done? First, try to use the best and shortest interconnect you can get between the Skipjack and preamp. Or for interconnect comparisons just use 2 of the preamp channels, avoiding the Skipjack and third interconnect to the preamp. One could use two Skipjacks and switch the source ends as well so that each interconnect is isolated & completely disconnected.
Comparisons: Definitions -Basic A/B testing is when the user can select between two items and those items are clearly indicated which is useful for simple direct comparisons. -Blind A/B testing is when the user is not given any direct indication of the choice. This keeps things more ‘honest’ and less prone to bias.
The Future Version 2 software and the Remote Control (At the time of this writing, these functions are in development and subject to change) The Skipjack will be useful for true double blind A/B testing using the pickle and blind A/B/X testing if the front panel is convenient to be accessed and particularly good for a variety of double blind A/B/X test procedures when combined with a special remote control.
More Helpful Hints from Hutch... You may have bought a great system but there is a good chance that you are only getting a fraction of its potential. Very frequently we have experienced top quality electronics sounding unimpressive simply because acoustics were ignored. Even amongst studio engineers, few can really tell the difference between good speakers in a bad room and bad speakers in a good room - but they all know good speakers in a good room and very likely so do you.
CREDITS MANLEY SKIPJACK An EveAnna Manley Production Starring EveAnna and Hutch as the brainstorming and design team, and Jerry Garszva as PIC programmer and layout engineer. Prototype Engineering by Gamma Ibarra. Mastered by Baltazar Hernandez. Handcrafted with pride in Chino, California, USA! In keeping with our new tradition of naming fresh new Manley HIFI products after aquatic creatures, a SKIPJACK is indeed another double-entnedred named Manley HIFI piece.
FRONT PANEL BUTTONS FOR DIRECT SELECTION OF INPUTS MANLEY A SKIPJACK B C D X “X” BUTTON USED IN COMBINATION WITH BUTTONS “A, B, C & D” AND PICKLE TO SELECT MODES AND DISPLAY OPTIONS BACK - LIT BADGE CHANGES COLORS DEPENDING ON THE MODE AND ‘X’ BUTTON
DIRECT IN L RECIEVER DIRECT IN R POWER AMP POWER AMP INPUT INPUT REM OTE L A B C D/ OP 2 OP 1 POWER N9512423 9V + - R OUTPUT INPUT INPUT OUTPUT PASSIVE ATTENUATOR CD PLAYER REM OTE L A B C D/ OP 2 OP 1 POWER N9512423 9V - + R DVD PLAYER OPT O SACD PHONO PREAMP DVD-A Example showing simple 2 channel connections to and from Skipjack where 3 sources feed 1 preamp. PHONO PREAMP Similar example, but this time using a Passive Attenuator instead of a preamp, as a purist approach.